It never would have occurred to me that that Sleaford Mods would be an ideal match for one of the most iconic synth-pop singles of the nineteen-eighties, but here we are. That’s clearly my shortcoming of imagination. The opening lyrics … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Sleaford Mods, “West End Girls”

Tradition holds that the holiday season formally begins with Phoebe Bridgers releasing a cover song as a charity single, but, this year, she’s one of the boys. So Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus are present, too. Joining boygenius are the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — boygenius & Ye Vagabonds, “The Parting Glass”

I’m confident that Laura Jane Grace knows a lot. I’m especially confident that Laura Jane Grace knows that a great punk song can get its point across in under two minutes. Leave the sonic epics to other fools. “Hole in … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Laura Jane Grace, “Hole in My Head”

“Sweet Stripe!,” the new single from Brooklyn-based band Stay Inside, feels like it starts in midstream. The guitars are already churning, the beat is already pulsing, the very thought of the song is fully formed. From there, it’s a roaring … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Stay Inside, “Sweet Stripe!”

Dowsing is officially based in Chicago, but the individual members of the quartet are currently spread across four different states. So the decision to title their fifth proper album, their first new studio effort in four years, No One Said … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Dowsing, “It Was Easy”

“TWENTYSOMETHING,” the new single from Los Angeles act talker, is a breezy blast about young adult misery. The band is the creative outlet of Celeste Tauchar, and she blazes through this headlong track that offers a litany of very modern … Continue reading This Week’s Model — talker, “TWENTYSOMETHING”

“Shame” feels inevitable. There was little doubt that Lauren Mayberry, the effortlessly charismatic lead singer of the Scottish band Chvrches, would someday venture out with solo material, and there was also no reason to expect that the sound of that … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Lauren Mayberry, “Shame”

I could rap out a whole bunch of words about how the new Sleater-Kinney track is a hefty punch right to the solar plexus. After all, that’s more or less the assignment I gave myself for this weekly feature. Instead, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Sleater-Kinney, “Hell”

“Infinity Worm,” the new single from ME REX, is reportedly inspired by any number of science fiction tales where imposing creatures descend to Earth after traversing the vastness of outer space. The chorus assurance of “But I promise, promise, promise/ … Continue reading This Week’s Model — ME REX, “Infinity Worm”

I usually cram all my three-quarters-baked observations about the tracks highlighted in this weekly feature. In the case of the different version of the Breeders’ alternative rock hit “Divine Hammer” that was released this week just ahead of its inclusions … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The Breeders, “Divine Mascis”